The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-03-26
2ar1tr and 0ardem.

Scatter some of the finest, richest and
best manure you have on the piece Of
ground intended for onions.
Start some pansies and evening prim-
roses in the house, to be transplanted to
the cold frame in three or four weeks, and
thence later to the open ground.
Do not use fertilizers too lavishly on
potted plants. A small quantity applied
frequently is better than full allo vance
at one time.
If you do not wish to be backward with
work in spring, do all your pruning and
cutting bark now, as the work cannot be
done should the season be warm. To be-
gin spring work should be to work the
ground, not the trees or vines.
Charred wood from the stove, or char
coal in any shape, is excellent for hogs.
1t is best to keep charcoal in the pens
where the hogs can have free access to it.
Rotten wood is also relished by hogs, and
they are very fond of burnt bread or other
charred substances.
Bone.meal is excellent for all kinds of
poultry, as it not only supplies them with
phosphates and proportion Of nitrogen,
but also of lime for the shells of eggs. It
is used largely in the food of young
chicks. Broken or pounded bones are
more acceptable to adult fowls than bone
meal.
ANY material that does not readil y con-
duct heat may be used for filling the
double walls Of an ice. house, and for
packing around the ice. Gut straw serves
an excellent purpose; chaff, forest leaves,
bark, marsh hay, coarse charcoal
powder, and other substitutes may be
used instead, but whatever the material
used may be, it is of the utmost impor-
lance that it should be perfectly dry.
Laying hens, says the Ploughmdn,
must be closely looked after at this sea-
son Of the year, if many eggs are expect
ed. While corn may be the principal
food, they should also have wheat, bar
ley, oats, shorts, boiled potatoes and ap-
pies; also cabbage and chopped hay, or
rowen moistened with warm water. Keep
ground oyster shells and bone constantly
by them, also gravel and pure water.
Fish has been highly recommended as
a wholesome and nutritious diet for fowls
and an excellent substitute when other
meat cannot be obtained. Where the
poultry man is situated near fish mar
ket he can obtain large quantities of ref
use and waste material of the fish which
can not be sold, and if this is fed to the
fowls it will furnish them with cheap
and nutritious food, and if anything, bet
ter than any other meat diet which can
obtained.
Three OF the greatest pests to the Or
chardist are: Tent csterpillars, mice and
rabbits. The caterpillar's eggs, glued in
a band near the ends Of the twigs, may be
readily seen on a cloudy day. Out off
and burn them. The annual loss in young
trees through mice and rabbits is very
large. Tramp the snow firmly around
the trunks after each fall to repel mice,
and apply blood or rub the trunks with
liver or bloody meat to repel rabbits.
Keep out stray animals.
The season for setting hens is coming.
The question as to the shape of eggs for
setting may we'll be considered. Does it
pay to pick out eggs of good shape, to
avoid pointed eggs and those with the
"bigness" all at one end? Breeders differ
in their opinions as to this point. But the
Rural Neao Yorker hen man believes a
hen in perfect health always lays a we'll
shaped egg; that a pointed or poorly
shaped egg is a sign that the hen is too
fat or otherwise out of condition. One
experimenter says that he sprinkles plas-
ter frequently under the roots, and
luting it with about an equal bulk of dr.
muck.
Pie-plant is delicious and very health
full product, and it should be in every
garden. 1t comes to the table earlier
than other garden products, and it not
only furnishes pleasant relish, but it's
acidity is very beneficial to the human
system, which at that season OF the year,
perhaps more than at other season,
needs something tart. The land used for
growing pie-plant should be rich and
deeply ploughed. In winter the ground
should be covered pretty thickly with
manure. Sow the seed in May in rich,
fine soil. Grow the plants six inches
apart the first year. In the spring of the
second year, thin TO three feet and half
or four feet.
Spring Farm Cleaning. - While the
wife cleans the house let the husband
clean the farm. If vegetable matter is
left about the yard, its rapid decay dur
ing the damp, warm weather of spring
and summer will poison the air and affect
the health of the family. If left about
the barn, lots and fields, it will have a
like influence on the farm animals. Hogs
are doubly liable to be injured. for they
not only breathe the fouled air, but nest
in such litter. Farm cleaning will save